Impact player
Caps forward Joel Ward scored at 2:57 of overtime to end a thrilling seven-game series in which every contest was decided by a goal, an NHL record. Four of the games went to overtime, with each team winning two.
Under the radar
Have to give it up for Caps rookie goalie Braden Holtby. He matched Boston’s Tim Thomas save-for-save throughout this seven-game series. In the end, he finished with 31 saves on 32 shots in Game 7 in a winning effort at TD Garden.
Did you notice …
Tyler Seguin keeping the puck in the offensive zone in the second period? The sequence ended with Seguin outmuscling Washington defenseman Karl Alzner in front of the net and slamming home the rebound to tie the game.
Behind the bench
Claude Julien
scratched rugged forward Shawn Thornton for the second game in a row. Thornton, a key piece of the team’s fourth line, had played in the first five games and made a physical impact as Boston’s grinders played well early in the series.
Dale Hunter turned back to defenseman Jeff Schultz, who played in the first three games of the series before becoming a healthy scratch in favor of John Erskine the next three. Schultz played in one of the team’s previous four Game 7s.
